Building element with varying surface characteristics

ABSTRACT

A building element ( 10 ) is formed from sheet material having opposite major surfaces ( 11, 12 ) that extend between longitudinal edges ( 13, 14 ). Margins of the sheet adjacent the longitudinal edges are turned out of a mid-plane of the sheet to form opposite profiled sections ( 15  and  16 ). The major surfaces ( 11, 12 ) of the building element have different surface characteristics, and one profiled section has one of the major surfaces as its outer surface, and the other profiled section has the other major surface as its outer surface.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a building element made from sheetmaterial such as sheet metal strip. The invention has been developedespecially, but not exclusively as elements for use in fences and isherein described in that context. The invention, however, may be used inother applications, and is therefore not limited to that particular use.

BACKGROUND ART

Typical fences include fence posts made from timber or metal which areadapted to support barrier panels. Typically, each barrier panelcomprises upper and lower rigid rails extending between the posts andin-fill means extending from rail to rail. The infill means may beimpervious rigid sheet, a roll formed profiled sheet, a rigid sheet ofexpanded metal, a plurality of spaced apart pickets, a sheet of wovenwire mesh, or other substantially planar obstruction to the passage ofpeople or animals between the posts.

In many applications, particularly for domestic and commercial use, thefencing can be quite prominent and as such there is a continuing demandfor fencing which is visually appealing but which is relativelyinexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the first aspect, the present invention relates to a building elementmade from sheet material having opposite major surfaces extendingbetween opposite longitudinal edges, margins of the sheet adjacent thelongitudinal edges being turned out of a midplane of the sheet to formopposite profiled sections, wherein the major surfaces have differentsurface characteristics, and one profiled section has one of the majorsurface as its outer surface, and the other profiled section has theother major surface as its outer surface.

An advantage of the present invention is that the element is producedwhich, through specific profiling of the edge margins, gives it avarying surface characteristic across the element face by presenting onemajor surface at one profiled edge, whilst presenting the other majorsurface along the other edge. Using this technique, elements of varyingsurface characteristic can be produced which are aesthetically pleasing.

With the above arrangement at least one face has discrete bandsextending along the element each of which have a different surfacecharacteristic so as to give that face of the element a “two toned”appearance. The characteristics which may vary between the two bands maybe the colour, the surface finish, the surface texture or the line.

In a particular form, the profiled sections are provided to improve thestructural characteristics of the element. In one form, each of theprofiled sections is formed as a substantially closed section. Theadvantage of this arrangement is that in a single profiling step, boththe structural characteristics and the varying surface characteristicsare formed in the element. This therefore enables the building elementto be manufactured at a low cost as compared to an approach where thevarying surface characteristic is incorporated as a separate step toforming of the element.

In one form, the element is produced from sheet metal strip and isprofiled using roll formers. However it is to be appreciated that othertechniques may be used to produce the element such as through a foldingor stamping operation, or through a combination of any of thesetechniques.

To produce the element in accordance with the present invention, oneedge margin is profiled in a “reverse” direction to the other edgemargin, in the sense that one edge margin is turned about one majorsurface, whilst the other edge margin is turned about the opposite majorsurface.

In one form, both the profiled sections are substantially identical incross section. Preferably, the element is generally symmetrical about aplane that extends transverse to the midplane of the sheet. With thisarrangement, whilst one edge margin is profiled in the reverse directionfrom the other edge margin, the resulting element has a cross sectionalprofile which is substantially the same as if the edge margins wereprofiled in the same direction.

In one form, the element further comprises a web that extends betweenthe opposite profile sections. In one form, the profiled sections extendoutwardly from one side of the plane containing the web so that one faceof the element is generally flat.

In one form, the element is made from a strip of steel coated with aprotective coating of an alloy of aluminium and zinc. In one embodimenta further painted coating is applied to at least one of the majorsurfaces so that the major surfaces have different surfacecharacteristics. If both major surfaces have a painted coating, thecolours of the painted surface are different to provide the differentsurface characteristics.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a building element madefrom sheet material having opposite major surfaces extending betweenopposite longitudinal edges, at least one margin of the sheet adjacent alongitudinal edge being turned out of a midplane of the sheet to form aprofiled section, wherein the major surfaces have different surfacecharacteristics, and wherein on at least one face of the buildingelement, the profiled section has one of the major surfaces as itsexposed surface, whereas an adjacent portion has the other major surfaceas its exposed surface.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a fence that incorporatesa building element according to any form described above. In oneembodiment, the element is used as part of the barrier panel between thefence posts. In another form, the element is used as the fence posts ofthe fence. In yet another form, the fence construction is formedentirely from the above described elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is convenient hereinafter describe embodiments of the presentinvention with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to beappreciated that the particularity of the drawings and the relateddescription does not supersede the generality of the preceding broaddescription of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a building element according the a firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the element of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fence formed using building elements having the profile ofthe element of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the building element of FIG. 1 having analternative profile;

FIG. 5 is a cross section of the element of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the building element of FIG. 1 withanother alternative profile;

FIG. 7 is a cross section of the element of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fence using a building element according to FIG. 1 havingyet a further alternative profile; and

FIG. 9 to 11 illustrates modified versions of the building element ofthe first embodiment which incorporates a single profiled section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a building element 10 that is formed from sheetmetal strip. The strip has opposite major surfaces 11 and 12 that extendbetween longitudinal edges 13,14. The opposite major surfaces 11,12 havedifferent surface characteristics to create a variation in theappearance of the element as described in more detail below.

Typically the sheet metal strip has a protective coating of zinc andaluminium. In one form, to form the different surface characteristics onthe major surfaces 11,12, a painted coating is applied to one or both ofthe major surfaces. If both surfaces are painted, the colours of thecoatings are different. It is to be appreciated that other techniquesmay be used to provide the different surface characteristics. Forexample, the colour of both major surfaces may be generally the same,but the surface finish varying. This arrangement has particularapplication where the strip is stainless steel where it is possible tohave a large range of finishes (i.e. gloss, satin, burnished etc.).

The element 10 is profiled (typically by passing the sheet metal stripthrough a roll former) to include the profiled sections 15, 16 at themargins of each of the two longitudinal edges. In the illustrated formof FIGS. 1 and 2, the profiled sections 16,17 are in the form ofcircular hollow sections. The element further includes a web portion 18which is formed by a mid section of the sheet strip, and whichinterconnects the profiled sections 16,17.

The circular hollow sections are substantially identical and extendoutwardly from one side of the web 18 so that one face 19 of the elementis generally flat whereas the other face 20 has the profile sections16,17 projecting from the web 18.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the element 10 has one edge marginprofiled in a “reverse” direction to the other edge margin. With thisarrangement one of the profiled sections 16 is turned about one of themajor surfaces 12, whereas the other profiled section 17 is turned aboutthe other major surface 11. With this arrangement, one face 20 of theelement has one profiled section 16 presenting one major surface 11,whereas the other profiled section 17 presents the other major surface12. As the major surfaces have varying surface characteristics (eitherby different painted coatings or the like) the element has a varyingsurface characteristic across each of the opposite faces 19, 20. Inparticular, each face has a “two toned” appearance with differentcoloured bands extending along the element.

A transition section 21 displaces one of the profiled section 17relative to the web 18 so that it aligns with the other profiled section16. This enables the element to be generally symmetrical about a planetransverse to the web 18, and to allow one face 19 to be relativelyflat.

The element 10 is ideally suited for use in fence construction as bestillustrated in FIG. 3 where a picket type fence 30 is shown. In thisarrangement, both the pickets 31 and the rails 32 are formed fromelements having the profile as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. To make efficientuse of the material, the pickets 31 are of a smaller size than the rails32 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The element 10 is ideally suited for thisapplication as the profiled sections 16 and 17 provide sufficientrigidity to the element to enable it to be used as either the picket 31or the rail 32. The elements can also be easily interconnected by beingsecured back to back on their respective flat faces 19. In addition, thedifferent surface characteristics provide the two toned effect, therebyincreasing the visual interest to the fence 30.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a variation in the element 10. As the element40 of FIGS. 4 and 5 include many of the features of the element 10disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2, like features have been given like referencenumerals. With the element 40, the sheet metal strip is profiled to formthe profiled sections 16 and 17 as square hollow sections rather than asround hollow sections as shown in the earlier embodiment. In otherrespects the element 40 is substantially the same and in particularincludes the arrangement where one edge margin is profiled in a reversedirection to the other edge margin. Again, the major surfaces 11, 12 aredesigned to have different surface characteristics to provide the variedappearance to the element 40.

The element 50 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 disclose a furtherembodiment where the profiled sections 16, 17 are formed as hexagonalclosed section. Again, the characteristic profiling of the element isprovided so that one hollow section presents a different major surfaceof the strip than the other profiled section 17.

FIG. 8 illustrates a fence which is constructed using elements 61, 62which are a further variation of that disclosed in FIG. 1. In thisembodiment, the elements include hollow sections 16 and 17 formed astriangular closed sections. In other respects the elements are the sameas that disclosed in the earlier embodiments.

The FIGS. 9 to 11 illustrate modified versions (70, 80 and 90) of theelements 10, 40 and 50. In each of these modified versions the elementhas only a single profiled section 16. With this arrangement, one edgemargin (71, 81,91) of each element remains as flat strip. With thisarrangement, one face 19 of the element presents only one of the majorsurfaces 11 whereas the other face 20 presents both major surfacesthereby having a two toned effect on that face.

In a further alternative arrangement (not shown) each of the edgemargins of the strip may be profiled to form a box section with eachsection being formed in the same direction but being spaced apart by asection web. In that arrangement, the element presents on one face(typically 20) an arrangement where there is three coloured bands withboth the profiled sections presenting one of the major surfaces 11whilst the web intermediate the profiled sections presenting the othermajor surface.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a building element which ismade from sheet metal which is profiled so as to create rigidity in theelement through the incorporation of profiled sections and also avarying surface characteristic so as to enhance the visual appeal of theelement.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of theinvention, except where the context requires otherwise due to expresslanguage or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variationssuch as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e.to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude thepresence or addition of further features in various embodiments of theinvention.

Variations and/or modifications may be made to the parts previouslydescribed without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A building element made from sheet material havingopposite major surfaces extending between opposite longitudinal edges,margins of the sheet adjacent the longitudinal edges forming oppositeprofiled sections, wherein the major surfaces have different surfacecharacteristics, and one profiled section has one of the major surfacesas its outer surface, and the other profiled section has the other majorsurface as its outer surface.
 12. A building element according to claim11, wherein the major surfaces are different colours so that at leastone face of the building element is two toned.
 13. A building elementaccording to claim 12, wherein the profiled sections are formed ashollow closed sections.
 14. A building element according to claim 13,wherein the sheet material is formed from sheet metal strip.
 15. A fencepost element comprising a building element according to claim
 14. 16. Abuilding element according to claim 11, wherein the profiled sectionsare formed as hollow closed sections.
 17. A building element accordingto claim 16, wherein the profiled sections are substantially identicalin cross section.
 18. A building element according to claim 11, furthercomprising a web extending between said opposite profiled sections. 19.A building element according to claim 18, wherein both profiled sectionsextend outwardly from one side of a plane containing said web, so thatone face of the element is generally planar.
 20. A building elementaccording to claim 11, wherein the sheet material is formed from sheetmetal strip.
 21. A fence post element comprising a building elementaccording to claim
 11. 22. A fence incorporating a plurality of fencepost elements according to claim 21 wherein said fence post elementscomprise at least part of a barrier panel of said fence.
 23. A buildingelement according to claim 11, wherein the margins forming the profiledsections are turned out of a midplane of the sheet.
 24. A buildingelement made from sheet material having opposite major surfacesextending between opposite longitudinal edges, at least one margin ofthe sheet adjacent a longitudinal edge forming a profiled section,wherein the major surfaces have different surface characteristics, andwherein on at least one face of the building element, the profiledsection has one of the major surfaces as its exposed surface, whereas anadjacent portion has the other major surface as its exposed surface.